Keeping it Clean: The Fine Art of DIY Cleaners. Pt 1

I am SO excited to be blogging today. So excited!!!

As you may know (and if you don't, where have you been???), I'm into DIY... everything. Anything I can make at home, I'm going to. So with all the chatter I've seen online about DIY cleaners, I thought "Hey! I should share some of my most favorite, super awesome, home made cleaner recipes!"

(Inner Erin is very enthusiastic about sharing!)

So for the next few weeks, I'm going to be doing just that! Tell you're friends, tell your family! Because my first post, dear reader, is for something that you probably use several times a week.

Laundry Detergent!

I don't know about you but I HATE buying laundry detergent. With two kids and a messy husband (okay... I'm the messy one. Sigh.) I do A LOT of laundry.

(AKA, Jon does. What can I say? I hate doing laundry MORE than buying detergent.)

So rather than spending the bajillions of dollars on detergent and fabric softener, I just make my own. And making the laundry detergent is saving me, oooooh, about $200. At least.

Wanna know the recipe? Wanna???

Sugar Crumbs Totally Sweet, Totally Cheap (but awesomely effective!) DIY Laundry Detergent

• 1 box of borax (76 oz)
• 1 box of washing soda (55 oz)
• 3 bars of Fels Naptha or Pink Zote

Start by shredding the three bars into a lined bucket. I just line it was a garbage bag and use a hand grater.

(A food processor will work as well, but I'm not sure I'd use it for food ever again.)

Once you've shredded all of the bars, add the entire box of borax AND the entire box of washing soda.

Mix thoroughly.

Pour into a cute (or in my case, closest) empty container.

The. End.

Seriously. That's it. So let's add up the total cost.

The box of Borax was $4.39. I used the 20 Mule Team Borax. The box of washing soda was $2.99. My brand of choice was Arm and Hammer. And the Fels Naptha bars were .99 a piece. That brings us to a grand total of...

$10.35.

Now, are you ready for the awesome part?

You only use ONE TABLESPOON per load.

Which means this laundry detergent will last 1 year. That's doing laundry 7x a week (which is what the average American is doing weekly!)

So here are some key notes before I sign off!

• Suds do NOT equal clean. This is a low suds detergent. Which means this detergent is H.E. effective :)
• It is cloth diaper safe!
• If you feel you need extra cleaning powers (aka you're the mother of messy little boys!), feel free to add a small container of Oxy Clean.
• And last, but not least, enjoy the amazing smell of the detergent as you make it! I love how my house smells laundry detergent day!

There ya have it! Home made detergent, tried and true. Hope you love it as much as we do!

** Have any cleaner recipes you'd like to share? Or interested in seeing something in particular posted? Leave me a comment or email me at yaysugarcrumbs@gmail.com!**

Happy 2012!

Ah, a new year :)

"But where were you last year?"

Hold on... I'm getting to that. As I was saying, Aaaah, a new year. A new chapter. Hopefully one I'm not in charge of the timeline of.

Yep. The reason that I was missing in action for nearly half a year was because I was put in charge of a timeline. Not a work timeline, mind you. That I can handle. No, I was put in charge of handling a timeline that involved life outside of toy making and crocheting. I know, you didn't know I had one of those things called a life! (Truth be told, I just discovered it!)

So let's recap 2011.

Let's start with major event number one. Jon proposed. I said yes.

(Yes, he does usually carry around a sophisticated black umbrella. He's gentlemanly like that.)

After that came the emotional roller coaster called house hunting. Nothing, I mean nothing, could have prepared me for how difficult that was going to be. I felt like my sons after a late bedtime. Cranky and a little (a lot) emotional. I'd like one house, Jon would hate it. Jon would like a house and I'd be ultra supportive and say "Let's get this one."

(No, that's not true. I often found that I didn't like the houses he liked.)

Finally, we found a house we both liked and we bought it. Closed in July. I wish I could say it was that simple buuuuuut it wasn't. And that's another story for another time.

So we bought the house in July and planned to get married in October in the Keys. Plenty of time to start painting and getting the house ready to move into! It was the perfect plan!

However, we decided to do this.

Yep. We eloped. In early August. Ya know. Only 2 weeks after we closed on the house.

Aaaaand a week before the craft show. The craft show that calls in 40,000 people.

The show went well! Aside from being flooded out. I'm not kidding. We were literally flooded out.

As for the rest of the year? Well, its been a lot of home improvement projects. Which will be all be revealed in other posts at later times.

Oh yeah... and being sick as a dog... Thanks to this October discovery.

Lol, okay... I think that this post alone has proven I should NEVER be allowed to timeline.

Unless it comes to home improvement. Which brings me to my 2012 resolution.

Get these projects done so I can share with all of you!

That's as far as I'm taking my resolution... Otherwise this year will be like last year.

But that, my dear reader, wouldn't be all that bad! 2011 was beautiful.

Someone's Been MIA

I know, I know. I've neglected the blog for a while. It's been a busy few weeks in the Sugar Crumbs household. Nothing but work work work around here.

(And by work, I mean the boys and I have been enjoying the summer and prepping for the big craft show in August.)

It's another sticky, humid day in my neck of the woods. Walking outside is like stepping in a sauna. Even the boys don't want to go out. This is particularly unusual considering they'd live outside if I gave them the opportunity. So with the humidity making a long park trip rather unappealing, we decided to bust out the craft supplies.



There's not a single person on the face of the Earth that doesn't love play dough. The delightful texture, the bright colors, that semi odd smell. And you can get a pack of 10 for about $10. Not too bad, huh?

Unfortunately, I'm far too ridiculous crafty to spend $10 on something I can make easily and for less than half the price.

You knew this was coming... DIY Play Dough.

There are tons of recipes out there for play dough. I've tried close to 30... yet this one is always my go to. It's comparable to store bought PlayDoh but I find it to be smoother and easier to play with.




All you need is a few basic kitchen ingredients.




Start by mixing a cup of flour, a tablespoon of powdered alum and 1/2 tsp of salt in a saucepan.





Stir in 1 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of oil. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly.





Remove from heat once the mixture is the consistency of mashed potatoes. (Oooor play dough... Duh, Erin.)





Add 2 tablespoons of vanilla and some food coloring. Mix it up a little bit.





This is the point that you'll want to remove the mixture from the pan and knead it until the color is uniform. I've never had an issue with staining from the food coloring, however, as a preventative measure, I always line the area with wax paper. Better safe than sorry!





Tada! Perfect play dough in less time than it takes to run to the store and buy a container. This makes a good amount so feel free to divide it up before adding color so that you can dye each part separately and a different color!

And what do the kiddos think?





They couldn't wait to get their hands on it!





Play Dough

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 tablespoon powdered alum
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  
• food coloring

Mix dry ingredients.
Add water and oil.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it form a play dough/mashed potatoes consistency.
Remove from heat and add vanilla and food coloring.
Knead to work in color.


Variations: Try adding different extracts for different scents. You wouldn't believe how calming it is to play with a bit of play dough that smells of lavender.

I like to think of myself as a 50s era domestic goddess...

And by that, I mean I love love love making casseroles. So you can imagine my excitement upon discovering French Toast Casserole a few years back. There's nothing quite as wonderful as the smell of french toast wafting through the house early in the morning.

And fortunately, getting that lovely scent is easy as ever.



Just grab a few mainstay ingredients, a bowl, a whisk and an 8"x8" baking dish and you'll be ready to go!



Lightly butter the baking dish and line with 5 cups of bread cubes. Typically, this equals out to about 8 slices of bread.



In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk, sugar, salt and vanilla.





Pour the mixture over the bread cubes and dot with butter or margarine. Allow the dish to stand for about 10 minutes. You'll want to preheat the oven to 350 at this point.

Of course, no french toast recipe is complete without a little bit of cinnamon and sugar so you'll want to sprinkle a mixture of cinnamon and sugar over the top.

After 10 minutes, bake at 350 for about 50 minutes or until the top is golden brown.




While you're waiting, catch up on some finger painting. You should still have some leftover from when you made DIY finger paints.




You should definitely, DEFINITELY sneak a peek at the casserole about 30 minutes in. Unless you can't make it that long. The heavenly aroma is irresistible.

Once golden brown, remove from the oven and enjoy!






French Toast Casserole

• 5 cups bread cubes
• 4 eggs
• 1.5 cups milk
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp butter or margarine, softened
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Lightly butter 8x8 inch baking pan. Line with bread cubes.

Beat eggs, milk, 2 tbsp sugar, salt and vanilla in a bowl. Pour egg mixture over bread and dot with butter/margarine. Allow to stand for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the remaining 2 tbsp of sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the top.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until top is golden brown. Serve with syrup, fruit or whipped cream.


Try using different breads for some amazing flavors. Raisin bread is particularly wonderful, as is banana bread.